The Case of the Buried Bones

Review: When the town of Westview goes to unearth a time capsule buried 75 years ago, they dig up a human skeleton instead in The Case of the Buried Bones, the 12th mystery in this early chapter series by Lewis B. Montgomery.

Fortunately, the skeleton is just a model that had gone missing from the high school so very long ago. But where was the time capsule? A piece of paper within the jaw of the skeleton's skull may provide a clue: "They found the dead fish because it was stinking. But to find the time capsule will take deeper thinking. Where is it hidden? Who'll track it down? Is there anyone tricky enough in this town?" But of course there is! Jazz and Milo, sleuths in training, are up to the challenge.

As students of Dash Marlowe, Super Sleuth, Milo and Jazz use their latest lesson in their investigation: make connections. In other words, connect a crime to something — or someone — you know and you may get a lead to its solution. The two decide to talk to Miss Irene Adler, an elderly member of in their community, who attended high school when the time capsule was buried, to see if she might remember something that could help them solve the mystery. For, as they later learn, she was Westview's "student sleuth", who was on the case at the time of the skeleton's theft … though at the time the capsule was still being prepared to be buried and had yet to go missing. She was as puzzled then as Milo and Jazz are now but the connection with Irene Adler is enough to trigger a thought from Milo as to where the capsule might be. A very entertaining investigation, a twist on a cold case file, and a cleverly devised solution make The Case of the Buried Bones a fine entry in this series of mysteries for the amateur sleuths and for those readers that follow their adventures.

Each of the books in this series also feature a number of interesting and diverse puzzles and brain-teasers are presented at the end. The ones here are particularly challenging and make for a nice way to end the book.

The Lexile measure for this title is 500L. The publisher recommends the book for readers aged 7 to 11, RL: 3.

Acknowledgment: The Kane Press provided a copy of The Case of the Buried Bones for this review.